Cisco AVS
Installation

Installing the Cisco Application Virtual Switch (AVS) consists
of two separate sets of tasks: configuring the Cisco Application Policy
Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and then install Cisco AVS using the Cisco
Virtual Switch Update Manager (VSUM), the ESXi CLI, or the VMware Virtual
Update Manager (VUM). You also must verify the installation.

This section provides
the instructions for each set of tasks that you need to perform to install
Cisco AVS to use within the Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI)
fabric.

Prerequisites for
Installing the Cisco AVS

You need to perform
the following tasks before installing the Cisco AVS.

You must set up
the Cisco APIC before you can set up the Cisco AVS. See the
Cisco APIC
Getting Started Guide for instructions on how to configure the Cisco
APIC for the first time.

You must make sure
that all switches are registered and that the Cisco ACI fabric is up to date.
See
Cisco
Application Centric Infrastructure Fundamentals and the
Cisco APIC
Getting Started Guide.

You must install Cisco VSUM if you plan to use it to install or
update the Cisco AVS.

When connecting
the Cisco AVS using VXLAN encapsulation, set the maximum transmission unit
(MTU) value equal to or greater than 1600 on all intermediate devices on the
path between the Cisco ACI fabric and the Cisco AVS. These include FI switches
and UCS-B. However, to optimize performance, the MTU should be set to the
maximum supported size that all intermediate devices on the path between the
Cisco ACI fabric and the Cisco AVS support. The maximum configurable MTU on AVS
is 8950.

When adding
additional VMware ESXi hosts to the VMM domain with the Cisco AVS, ensure that
the version of the ESXi host is compatible with the Distributed Virtual Switch
(DVS) version already deployed in the vCenter. For more information about Cisco
AVS compatibility for ESXi hosts, see the Cisco AVS
Release Notes for your
Cisco AVS release.

If the ESXi host
version is not compatible with the existing DVS version, vCenter will not be
able to add the ESXi host to the DVS, and an incompatibility error will occur.
Modification of the existing DVS Version setting from the Cisco APIC is not
possible. To lower the DVS Version in the vCenter, you need to remove and
reapply the VMM domain configuration with a lower setting.

Workflow for
Installing the Cisco AVS

This section provides
a high-level description of the tasks that you need to perform in order to
install the Cisco AVS.

An interface
policy configures the type of interface—port channel (PC) or virtual PC
(VPC)—for the vSphere hosts and a link aggregation control protocol (LACP), or
MAC pinning.
See the appendix
"Recommended
Topologies" in this guide for supported topologies.

A switch policy
configures the connection between the Cisco AVS (the vLeaf) and the ESXi
hypervisor by specifying a physical port on the leaf switch and by specifying
Cisco AVS trunk settings. These include VLANs or VXLANs.

A VMware vCenter
domain groups virtual machine (VM) controllers with similar networking policy
requirements. For example, VM controllers can share VLAN or Virtual Extensible
Local Area Network (VXLAN) space and application endpoint groups (EPGs). The
Cisco APIC communicates with the controller to publish network configurations
such as port groups that are then applied to the virtual workloads.

Using Cisco VSUM
is the recommended method for installing the Cisco AVS. Using Cisco VSUM
validates the version and compatibility for the ESXi host, and in one procedure
enables you to install the Cisco AVS onto the ESXi host and add the ESXi host
to the Cisco AVS distributed virtual switch (DVS).

You need to verify
that the Cisco AVS has been installed on the VMware ESXi hypervisor by
verifying the virtual switch status and the virtual NIC status. You also need
to verify that the vmknic is created, that OpFlex is online, and that the ports
are in a forwarding state.

Firewall
Considerations

If you use the
recommended united configuration wizard, the Cisco APIC automatically creates a
firewall policy, which can be modified later. If you instead use the alternate
procedures to create interface, switch, or vCenter domain profiles, you will
need to create a firewall policy manually. Follow the instructions in
the
"Distributed Firewall" section of the
ACI
Virtualization Guide.

Interface and Switch
Profile Guidelines and Prerequisites

Follow these
guidelines and fulfil the prerequisites when creating interface and switch
profiles for your Cisco AVS.

Guidelines for
Creating Interface and Switch Profiles

The
Cisco AVS
supports PC, VPC, MAC Pinning, and FEX interface policies. It does not support
individual interface policies. See the
Cisco
Application Virtual Switch Installation Guide for information about FEX
policies.

If there is a
Layer 2 network between the leaf switch and the Cisco AVS vSphere host,
configure the interface policy on the interfaces that are connected to the
Layer 2 network.

The number of
links and leafs that you use determine whether you need to configure a PC or a
VPC policy for the
Cisco AVS:

If you are
using a single link between a leaf and an ESXi host, you need to configure a PC
policy.

If you are
using multiple links between one leaf and an ESXi host, you must configure a PC
policy.

If you are
using multiple links between multiple leafs and an ESXi host, you must
configure a VPC policy.

Follow these guidelines for choosing a LACP policy:

Choose LACP
(Active or Passive) if the uplinks from the Cisco AVS (vSphere host) are
directly connected to the leaf switches and you want to use or turn on the LACP
channeling protocol.

Choose
Static Channel - Mode On if the uplinks form the Cisco AVS are directly
connected to the leaf switches but you do not want to use the LACP channeling
protocol, for example, static port channel.

Choose MAC
Pinning if the uplinks from the Cisco AVS should not be channeled together and
will operate as separate links.

Prerequisites
for Creating Interface and Switch Profiles

You should verify
that the leaf switch interfaces are physically connected to the ESXi hypervisor
or, if you are using a Layer 2 device, verify that the leaf is physically
connected to the Layer 2 device.

vCenter Domain
Profile Guidelines and Prerequisites

You must create a new
vCenter domain profile; you cannot convert an existing one. For information
about deleting an existing VMware vCenter domain profile, see the section
"Guidelines for Deleting VMM Domains" in
Cisco Application
Centric Infrastructure Fundamentals.

Guidelines for
Creating a VMware vCenter Domain Profile

You can create
multiple data centers and DVS entries under a single domain. However, you can
have only one Cisco AVS assigned to each data center.

If you choose VXLAN
encapsulation and MAC pinning link aggregation, we recommend that you enable
VXLAN load balancing. See the section “Enabling VXLAN load balancing” in the
Cisco
Application Virtual Switch Configuration Guide.

Note

If VXLAN load
balancing is enabled in the VMware vCenter domain profile, Microsegmentation
with Cisco AVS cannot be enabled on the domain.

Beginning with
Cisco AVS
Release 5.2(1)SV3(1.15), you can use IPv6 when creating a VMM domain, provided
that the vCenter and ESXi host management are IPv6-enabled.

Prerequisites
for Creating a VMware vCenter Domain Profile

Make sure that the
multicast IP address pool has enough multicast IP addresses to accommodate the
number of EPGs that will be published to the VMware vCenter domain. You can add
more IP addresses to a multicast address pool that is already associated with a
VMware vCenter domain at any time.

Make sure that you
have a sufficient number of VLAN IDs. If you do not, ports on endpoint groups
(EPGs) might report that no encapsulation is available.

If you want to
change the switch mode on a
Cisco AVS,
you first must remove the existing DVS and then add the VMware vCenter domain
with the desired switching mode. For instructions on removing the existing DVS,
see
Cisco Application Virtual
Switch Configuration Guide.

vCenter must be
installed, configured, and reachable through the in-band/out-of-band management
network.

You must have the
administrator/root credentials to the vCenter.

Note

If you prefer
not to use the vCenter administrator/root credentials, you can create a custom
user account with minimum required permissions.
See the section
Creating
a VMware vCenter Domain Profile in Appendix C in this doc for a list of
the required user privileges.

Creating Interface
and Switch Profiles and a vCenter Domain Profile Using the Advanced GUI

Caution:
Cisco recommends that you do not mix configuration modes (Advanced or Basic).
When you make a configuration in either mode and change the configuration using
the other mode, unintended changes can occur. For example, if you apply an
interface policy to two ports using Advanced mode and then change the settings
of one port using Basic mode, your changes might be applied to both ports.

For information
about using Advanced and Basic modes, see the
Cisco APIC
Getting Started Guide.

Before You Begin

Before you create a
vCenter domain profile, you must establish connectivity to external network
using in-band management network on the Cisco APIC.

Step 1

Log into the
Cisco APIC, choosing
Advanced mode.

Step 2

On the menu bar,
click
Fabric > Access
Policies.

Step 3

In the Policies
Navigation pane, right-click
Switch
Policies, and then click
Configure Interfaces, PC, and VPC.

Step 4

In the work
pane, click the green
+ icon and perform the following steps:

In the
Select Switches to Configure Interfaces field, make
sure that the
Quick radio button is selected.

From the
Switches drop-down list, choose the appropriate leaf
ID.

In the
Switch Profile Name field, the switch profile name
automatically appears.

Click the
green
+ icon again.

As shown
in the image below, the screen displays a wizard that enables you to configure
interface, switch, and vCenter domain profiles.

In the
Interfaces field, enter the interface or interface
range for your vSphere hosts.

Once you
enter the interface or interface range, the wizard enters a name in the
Interface Selector Name field.

In the
Interface Policy Group area, choose the
Create One
radio button.

Note

This
procedure assumes that you are creating interface and switch policies and
creating a vCenter domain from scratch. If you choose the
Choose One radio button, you will not be able to do
so in the wizard.

From the
CDP Policy or the
LLDP Policy drop-down list, create a policy.

Note

If you
use a Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) server, create a policy to enable a
Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) policy and a policy to disable Link Layer
Discovery Protocol (LLDP).

Note

Beginning with Cisco AVS Release 5.2(1)SV3(1.15), CDP and LLDP
policies are disabled by default. You must enable them in the configuration
wizard. Enable CDP or LLDP policies in the
Interface Policy Group Field to enable them on Cisco
AVS and other switches in the fabric. If you want to enable CDP or LLDP only on
Cisco AVS, enable them in the
vSwitch Policy area of the configuration wizard.

If the
hypervisors are directly connected to leaf switches, you can use either VLAN or
VXLAN. (Cisco UCS blade servers, where Fabric Interconnects are connected to
the fabric, are considered to be directly connected.) However, if the
hypervisors are not directly connected to leaf switches, you must use VXLAN.
For more information, see the
Overview
section.

In the
Domain
area, make sure that the
Create One radio button is chosen.

The
Create One option is used when creating a new VMM
domain for an interface or switch profile, as you do in this procedure. The
Choose One button is used when creating an interface
or switch profile for a new host that you want to make part of an existing VMM
domain.

In the
Domain Name field, enter the domain name.

If you
chose
AVS VLAN Hosts in Step 5 g, in the
VLAN Range field, enter the VLAN range as
appropriate.

Note

Do not
define a range that includes the reserved VLAN ID for infrastructure network
because that VLAN is for internal use.

If you
chose
AVS VXLAN Hosts in Step 5 g, in the
Fabric Multicast Address field, enter an address,
such as 225.1.1.1.

If you
chose
AVS VXLAN Hosts in Step 5 g, in the
Pool of Multicast Address Ranges field, create a new
multicast pool or choose an existing one.

Note

The
multicast address configured in Step 5 k must not overlap with the ranges
configured in Step 5 l.

If you
chose
AVS VXLAN Hosts in Step 5 g, in the
Local Switching area, choose
True or
False.

With local
switching, traffic within an endpoint group (EPG) does not go to the leaf, so
if you choose local switching, you might not see some traffic counters. If you
want to see all intra-EPG traffic, you should choose
False. See the section
Cisco
Application Virtual Switch Overview for additional information about
Local Switching and No Local Switching modes.

(Optional)
From the
Security Domains drop-down list, choose or create a
security domain.

In the
vCenter Login Name field, enter the vCenter
Administrator/root username.

In the
Password field, enter the vCenter Administrator/root
password.

In the
Confirm Password field, reenter the password.

Step 6

Click the
+ icon to expand
vCenter, and in the
Create
vCenter/vShield Controller dialog box, perform the following
actions:

In the
Name field, enter a name to refer to the vCenter
domain.

The name
does not need to be the same as the vCenter domain name; you can use the
vCenter's host name.

In the
Host Name (or IP Address) field, enter the host name
or IP address.

If you use
the host name, you must already have configured a DNS policy on Cisco APIC. If
you do not have a DNS policy configured, enter the IP address of the vCenter
server.

From the
DVS Version drop-down list, choose DVS version 5.1.

In the
Stats Collection field, choose
Enabled.

In the
Datacenter field, enter the data center name.

Note

The name
that you enter for
Datacenter must match exactly the name in vCenter.
The name is case sensitive.

Click OK.

In the
vSwitch Policy area, check the appropriate check
boxes.
For
example, choose the appropriate port channel policy, such as LACP or MAC
Pinning and the relevant CDP, LLDP and BPDU policies.

Note

If you
do not specify a policy in the
vSwitch Policy area, the same interface policy that
you configured earlier in the
Interface Policy Group area of the configuration
wizard will take effect for the vSwitch.

Note

In the
vSwitch Policy area, check the
MAC Pinning check box if you have a Unified
Computing System (UCS) Fabric Interconnect (FI) between the top-of-rack switch
and the Cisco AVS.

Learning
mode is used only when upgrading from a version of Cisco AVS that does not
support Distributed Firewall to a version that does. Otherwise, Distributed
Firewall should be in Enabled mode.You can change the
Distributed Firewall mode later. See the section "Guidelines for Upgrading
Cisco AVS with Distributed Firewall" in the
Cisco Application Virtual Switch Installation Guide for
instructions.

Verify the new
domain and profiles, by performing the following actions:

On the
menu bar, choose
VM
Networking > Inventory.

In the
navigation pane, expand
VMware > Domain_name > Controllers, and then choose the
vCenter.

In the
work pane, under
Properties, view the virtual machine manager (VMM)
domain name to verify that the controller is online. In the work pane, the
vCenter properties are displayed including the operational status. The
displayed information confirms that connection from the
APIC
controller to the vCenter server is established, and the inventory is
available.

Creating a vCenter
Domain Using the Basic GUI

Caution:
Cisco recommends that you do not mix configuration modes (Advanced or Basic).
When you make a configuration in either mode and change the configuration using
the other mode, unintended changes can occur. For example, if you apply an
interface policy to two ports using Advanced mode and then change the settings
of one port using Basic mode, your changes might be applied to both ports.

For information
about using Advanced and Basic modes, see the
Cisco APIC
Getting Started Guide.

Step 1

Log in to the
Cisco APIC, choosing
Basic mode.

Step 2

Go to
VM
Networking > Inventory > VMware.

Step 3

Right-click
VMware and choose
Create
vCenter Domain.

Step 4

In
Create
vCenter Domain dialog box, in the
Virtual
Switch Name field, enter a name.

Step 5

In the
Virtual
Switch field, choose
Cisco
AVS.

Step 6

In the
Switching Mode field, choose, VLAN, VXLAN, or
VXLAN-NS.

VXLAN-NS is
VXLAN with no local switching.

Step 7

Complete one of
the following actions:

If you chose
...

Then...

VLAN in Step
6

In the
VLAN Pool drop-down list, choose a VLAN pool.

VXLAN or VXLAN-NS in Step
6

In the
AVS Fabric-Wide Multicast Address field, type an
address.

From the
Pool of Multicast Addresses (one per EPG), choose an
option.

Step 8

In the
vCenter
field, click the
+ icon.

Step 9

In the
Create
vCenter Controller dialog box, in the
Host
Name (or IP Address) field, identify one or more vCenters.

Step 10

From the
DVS
Version drop-down list, choose
DVS
Version 5.1.

Step 11

In the
Datacenter field, type the vCenter name.

Step 12

In the
vCenter Credential Name field, type the vCenter
credential name.

Step 13

In the
Username field, type the username for logging in to
the vCenter.

Step 14

In the
Password field, type the password for logging in to
the vCenter.

Learning mode
is used only when upgrading from a version of Cisco AVS that does not support
Distributed Firewall to a version that does. Otherwise, Distributed Firewall
should be in Enabled mode.You can change the
Distributed Firewall mode later. See the section "Guidelines for Upgrading
Cisco AVS with Distributed Firewall" in the
Cisco
Application Virtual Switch Installation Guide for instructions.

Step 19

Click
SUBMIT.
The new
vCenter domain appears in the central
Properties pane. You now need to specify which ports
are connected to the new domain.

In the top
section of the work pane, choose the ports on the leaf that vCenter domain is
connected to.

Step 24

In the bottom
section of the work pane, click
CONFIGURE INTERFACE.

Step 25

In the
Interface tab, in the
Speed field, choose a speed.

The default
value is
inherit.

Step 26

(Optional) In
the
L2
Protocols tab, select a protocol.

Step 27

In the
VLAN tab, from the
VLAN
Domain drop-down list, choose a VLAN domain.

Step 28

In the
ESX
And SCVMM area, click the
+ icon, and in the
Name drop-down list, choose the vCenter domain that
you created earlier in the procedure.

Step 29

Click
APPLY
CHANGES.

Step 30

In the
Success dialog box, click
OK.

Configuring vSwitch
Override Policies on the VMM Domain Using the Advanced GUI

Before installing
Cisco AVS, you can use the configuration wizard to create a VMware vCenter
profile and create interface policy group policies for Cisco AVS. You also can
create vSwitch policies that override the interface policy group policies and
apply a different policy for the leaf.

However, if you did
not use the configuration wizard—or if you used the configuration wizard but
did not configure a vSwitch override policy—you can configure a vSwitch
override policy by using one of the procedures in this section. You can perform
the override in Cisco APIC through the
Fabric tab or the
VM
Networking tab.

Note

In Cisco AVS
5.2(1)SV3(1.10), you cannot create a Distributed Firewall policy on the vSwitch
using the configuration wizard.
See the section "Configuring
Distributed Firewall" in the
Cisco ACI Virtualization Guide for
instructions for configuring a Distributed Firewall policy and associating it
to the VMM domain.

Before You Begin

We recommend that
you already have created access policies and an attachable access entity
profile for Cisco AVS.

Step 1

Log in to the
Cisco APIC, choosing Advanced mode.

Step 2

Perform one of
the following sets of actions:

Note

A vSwitch
override policies configured through the
VM
Networking tab on the VMM domain take precedence over vSwitch
override policies configured through the
Fabric tab on the attachable access entity profile.

If you want to configure the
override policy...

Then...

Through the
VM
Networking tab

Perform the
following steps:

Go to
VM
Networking > Inventory > VMware.

In the
Inventory navigation pane, choose the relevant VMM
domain.

In the
VMM domain work pane, scroll to the
VSwitch Policies area, and from the appropriate
vSwitch policy drop-down list, choose the policy that you want to apply as an
override policy.

Click
SUBMIT.

Through the
Fabric tab

Perform the
following steps:

Go to
Fabric > Access
Policies.

In the
Policies navigation pane, open the
Global Policies folder and then open the
Attachable Access Entity Profiles folder.

In the
Attachable Access Entity Profiles work pane, scroll to the
VSwitch Policies area, and from the appropriate
vSwitch policy drop-down list, choose the policy that you want to apply as an
override policy.

Click
SUBMIT.

What to Do Next

Verify that the
policies are in effect on Cisco AVS.

Pre-Cisco AVS
Installation Configuration Using the NX-OS Style CLI

You can perform some
pre-Cisco AVS installation configuration tasks using the NX-OS style CLI.

If you are not
using VMware vSphere Web Client, you cannot use Cisco VSUM or the VMware VUM
and must use the ESXi CLI to install Cisco AVS.

Note

When you choose a
Cisco AVS VIB, you need to choose the one compatible with the version of VMware
ESXi hypervisor that you use. ESXi 5.1 uses xxxx.3.1.1.vib, ESXi 5.5 uses
xxxx.3.2.1.vib, and ESXi 6.0 uses xxxx.6.0.1.vib.

Cisco AVS
Installation Using Cisco VSUM

Using Cisco VSUM is
the recommended method for installing Cisco AVS. Using Cisco VSUM validates the
version and compatibility for the ESXi host, and in one procedure enables you
to install the Cisco AVS onto the ESXi host and add the ESXi host to the Cisco
AVS DVS.

Note

In Cisco VSUM
Release 2.0, image files for Cisco AVS are uploaded separately from the Cisco
VSUM software. The new Virtual Switch File Upload Utility enables you to
dynamically upload the switch image files before installation. You download the
switch image files from Cisco.com to your local system before uploaded them to
the Cisco VSUM repository.

One you have read the
sections and fulfilled the system requirements and prerequisites in the
Cisco Virtual
Switch Update Manager Getting Started Guide for Cisco Application Virtual
Switch, you can then install Cisco VSUM following the instructions in
the section
"Installing
Cisco VSUM" in this guide.

Once you have
installed Cisco VSUM, see the following sections in this guide:

Power on the
Cisco VSUM VM.
It might take
5 minutes for Cisco VSUM to be installed and registered as a vSphere Web Client
plug-in.

If the Web
Client session was open during the installation, you must log out and log in
again to view the Cisco VSUM plug-in.

About the Virtual
Switch Image File Upload Utility

The Virtual Switch Image File
Upload utility is a GUI that enables you to dynamically upload the Cisco AVS
image files before you install Cisco AVS. You must download the Cisco AVS image
files from Cisco.com on your local system before you upload them to the
Cisco VSUM
repository.

Uploading the
Cisco AVS Image File

Before you install
Cisco AVS using
Cisco VSUM,
you must upload the corresponding
Cisco AVS image file to
Cisco VSUM.

You must download the
Cisco
AVS .zip image folder before starting the upload operation.

Step 1

Log in to the
VMware vSphere Web Client.

Step 2

Choose
Home >
Cisco
Virtual Switch Update Manager.

Step 3

In the
Cisco
Virtual Switch Update Manager pane, choose
AVS >
Upload.

Step 4

In the
Upload
Switch Image pane, click
Upload.

Step 5

In the
Virtual
Switch Image File Uploader window, click
Browse, choose the appropriate image folder
available on your local machine, and then click
Upload.

The upload
might take a few minutes.

Step 6

In the dialog
box telling you that the .zip image folder was successfully uploaded,
clickOK
.

Step 7

You can
confirm the upload in the
Manage
Uploaded switch Images pane.

What to Do Next

Install Cisco AVS as
described in the remaining procedures in this chapter.

Prerequisites for
Installing Cisco AVS

Installing Cisco AVS has the following prerequisites:

You must set up
the Cisco APIC before you can set up the Cisco AVS. See the
Cisco APIC
Getting Started Guide for instructions on how to configure the Cisco
APIC for the first time.

You must make sure
that all switches are registered and that the Cisco ACI fabric is up to date.
See
Cisco
Application Centric Infrastructure Fundamentals and the
Cisco APIC
Getting Started Guide.

The
Cisco AVS
configuration in the Cisco APIC must be completed manually. See the section
Configuring
Cisco APIC Settings in this guide for detailed information about
configuring the Cisco APIC before Cisco AVS installation.

You must install Cisco VSUM
if you plan to use it to install the Cisco AVS. See the section "Installing
Cisco VSUM" in this guide.

You have
downloaded the appropriate Cisco AVS image file from Cisco.com and uploaded it
in the Cisco VSUM repository. See the section "About the Virtual Switch Image
File Upload Utility" and "Uploading the Cisco AVS Image File" in this guide.

You have created a
tenant configuration that contains the required bridge domain, application
profile, endpoint groups, and contracts. See the
Cisco APIC
Getting Started Guide for more information.

The host has one
or more unclaimed physical NICs.

You have
administrative privileges for the vCenter Server.

When connecting
the Cisco AVS using VXLAN encapsulation, set the maximum transmission unit
(MTU) value equal to or greater than 1600 on all intermediate devices on the
path between the Cisco ACI fabric and the Cisco AVS. These include FI switches
and UCS-B. However, to optimize performance, the MTU should be set to the
maximum supported size that all intermediate devices on the path between the
Cisco ACI fabric and the Cisco AVS support. The maximum configurable MTU on AVS
is 8950.

When adding
additional VMware ESXi hosts to the VMM domain for the Cisco AVS, ensure that
the version of the ESXi host is compatible with the Distributed Virtual Switch
(DVS) version already deployed in the vCenter. For more information about Cisco
AVS compatibility for ESXi hosts, see the Cisco AVS
Release Notes for your
Cisco AVS release.

If the ESXi host
version is not compatible with the existing DVS version, vCenter will not be
able to add the ESXi host to the DVS, and an incompatibility error will occur.
Modification of the existing DVS Version setting from the Cisco APIC is not
possible. To lower the DVS Version in the vCenter, you need to remove and
reapply the VMM domain configuration with a lower setting.

Installing Cisco AVS Using VSUM

The following
procedure—using the feature labeled
Add
Host-AVS in Cisco VSUM—puts the hosts into maintenance mode,
installs the Cisco AVS, and adds an ESXi host or multiple hosts to the Cisco
AVS.

Verifying the Cisco
AVS Installation

The following
sections describe how to verify that the Cisco Application Virtual Switch (AVS)
has been installed on the VMware ESXi hypervisor.

Verifying the
Virtual Switch Status

Step 1

Log in to the
VMware vSphere Client.

Step 2

Choose
Networking.

Step 3

Open the folder
for the data center and click the virtual switch.

Step 4

Click the
Hosts tab.
The
VDS
Status and
Status fields display the virtual switch status. The
VDS status should be
Up
to indicate that OpFlex communication has been established.

Verifying the vNIC
Status

Step 1

In VMware
vSphere Client, click the
Home tab.

Step 2

Choose
Hosts
and Clusters.

Step 3

Click the host.

Step 4

Click the
Configuration tab.

Step 5

In the
Hardware panel, choose
Networking.

Step 6

In the
View field, click the
vSphere
Distributed Switch button.

Step 7

Click
Manage
Virtual Adapters. The vmk1 displays as a virtual adapter and lists
an IP address.

Step 8

Click the newly
created vmk interface to display the vmknic status.

Note

Allow
approximately 20 seconds for the vmk to receive an IP address through DHCP.

Post-Installation
Configuration

After you install the
Cisco AVS, you need to perform several configuration tasks.

You need to deploy an
application profile, which includes creating a tenant, application profile,
EPGs, filters, and contracts, and assigning port groups to VMs. You then need
to verify the application profile.

See the Cisco AVS
chapter in the
Cisco ACI
Virtualization Guide for instructions.

If you want to use
Distributed Firewall available in Cisco AVS Release 5.2(1)SV3(1.5) and later
releases, you need to enable it after installation. See the section "Enabling
Distributed Firewall" in the
Cisco ACI Virtualization Guide for
instructions.

Uninstalling Cisco
AVS

You might need to
remove Cisco AVS for testing or if you need to remove all configuration from
the Cisco ACI fabric, resetting the fabric to its initial state. Follow the
high-level steps in this procedure to remove the Cisco AVS.

This step is
optional if you are removing all configuration from the Cisco ACI fabric.

Remove the
Cisco AVS VMM domain.

What to Do Next

If you are
uninstalling the Cisco AVS but not removing all configuration from the Cisco
ACI fabric, you can remove the VIB software from each host where it was
installed. You can use the following vSphere CLI command to remove the VIB
software from a host: